novelraw Chapter 583 - 514: Shallow Are the Gains from Paper Alone
Chapter 583 - 514: Shallow Are the Gains from Paper Alone
When Su Jingchen and Cao Gen rushed over, they saw Yu Xiaolian holding a child with one hand, her foot planted firmly on the bandit leader’s back.
As for the bandit leader, he had already fainted.
Su Jingchen gave Yu Xiaolian a thumbs-up.
Receiving her husband’s praise, Yu Xiaolian’s face showed pride.
"I left one alive; let’s take him back for interrogation!"
Cao Gen was astonished from head to toe, was his mistress really this strong?
He occasionally saw the lord guiding the mistress in martial arts practice in the backyard; she used to make frequent mistakes, but now...
Could it be that the mistress was always pretending to be weak while hiding her true strength?
He felt he was such a fool for not realizing all along that the mistress was so skilled in martial arts.
...
Just past noon, the group led by Su Jingchen entered Yangzhou City.
Su Jingchen, along with He Jian, headed directly to the Lianghuai Salt Transport Bureau.
When Lord Cao saw Su Jingchen arrive safely, the heart that had been hanging in suspense sank.
It was over; failing to deal with Su Jingchen on the road meant it would be even harder to act against him within Yangzhou City.
"I, Cao Guangqiao of the Yangzhou Huai Salt Headquarters, welcome Lord Su!" Cao Guangqiao quickly wiped the disappointment off his face, smiling as he greeted Su Jingchen.
Su Jingchen had already learned from He Jian that it was this man named Cao who had hired assassins to eliminate him, so he naturally didn’t give him a friendly face.
Had there been no witnesses, he might have tolerated it, but unfortunately for Cao, he had witnesses, and more than one.
However, Su Jingchen did not brazenly bring those few living witnesses to the Lianghuai Salt Transport Bureau; instead, he kept them under watch somewhere else.
This Lianghuai Salt Transport Bureau was unlike other state government offices; it had a mix of many kinds of minor officials, and it was purely a workplace with no residential quarters for inner families.
Since the Emperor wanted Su Jingchen to handle this mess, he naturally arranged a place for him to stay, and Liang Laoda and the other captured bandits were temporarily kept at the residence the Emperor arranged for Su Jingchen.
Being new, Su Jingchen was unclear about how complicated the official scene was within the Lianghuai Salt Transport, so rashly exposing Liang Laoda and others might backfire.
Even though he had reviewed many documents related to the Lianghuai Salt Transport before coming, what one learns from books is always superficial; he needed to see it for himself to be sure.
Yu Xiaolian and Su Jingchen split up, each attending to their own tasks.
Su Jingchen went to the Salt Transport Department, while she arranged all the matters for their new home.
The new residence was a three-courtyard compound; though it had only three courtyards, in the expensive land of Yangzhou City, it was quite a sizable mansion.
The mansion was neither new nor old, but all the necessary furnishings were complete, and Yu Xiaolian was quite satisfied with it.
However, when Yu Xiaolian found out that this house had been lived in by the former Salt Transport Envoy, Yin Daren, she was quite surprised.
This mansion... every plant and tree seemed like it belonged to an honest official’s place, yet that former Salt Transport Envoy Yin Daren was known as a huge corrupt official, this...
But things cannot be judged by their appearance. When the old housekeeper took Yu Xiaolian to the main house and then showed her the secret underground chamber, Yu Xiaolian’s mouth fell open in shock.
"The Emperor confiscated the Silver from a secret chamber?" Seeing the underground chamber, roughly seven or eight tenths in size, refreshed her limited horizons.
"Not just Silver, also gold and various jewelry, glass, conch, agate, and pearls as big as pigeon eggs," the old housekeeper said with a chuckle.
He enjoyed seeing Yu Xiaolian’s amazed, inexperienced look.
Yu Xiaolian clicked her tongue twice.
"Yin Daren may have been a huge corrupt person, but his food, clothing, and accommodation were the worst quality, even his inner clothing was patched," the old housekeeper said, watching Yu Xiaolian’s expression.
"Then what was he after?" Stealing Silver but not daring to enjoy it, only to end up losing his head in the end.
Yu Xiaolian couldn’t understand the mindset of those who embezzle without daring to enjoy the spoils.
She couldn’t comprehend what they were thinking.